A Dose of Dublin

A couple of weeks ago I had the brilliant chance to travel to Dublin for work (the perks of being the Edinburgh Program Intern) to get to know Trinity College Dublin and sit down with some of our UCEAP students to see what their experiences abroad have been like so far (Check out ‘Tidbits of Trinity’ to hear about the university from Gillian Perry, a current UCEAP student).

I’ve been to Ireland once before just over a year ago for a brief but incredible weekend trip spanning from Dublin to Galway and out to the Cliffs of Moher. There is something breathtakingly gorgeous about Ireland even when it is shrouded in fog. Dublin is currently undergoing a surprising amount of renovation but even so the city had its own unique feel.

UCEAP offers a selection of four different universities across Ireland: The National University of Ireland, Galway; Trinity College Dublin; University College Cork and University College Dublin. We also have an Irish Parliamentary internship! There are so many different programs that it might seem difficult to choose just one. To make the decision a little bit easier I’ve made a short video to give you a feel for what a day in Dublin is like.

I have to say, my biggest shock of the trip was that I had a hard time understanding the Irish accents around me. Having lived in Scotland for over a year now I find it funny when people think that Scottish accents are nearly indecipherable but now I understand their difficulty!

The highlight of my trip by far was sitting down with Ronan Nelson, a student at Trinity College Dublin, to hear what his experience at Trinity has been like so far. Ronan is a tremendous rugby enthusiast and a lovely person so click below to see my interview with him which discusses a bit of what its like to navigate Dublin with restricted mobility.

All and all my time in Dublin was brilliant and I can’t wait to return to Ireland in a few weeks time. Look out for a brief video about that trip in about a months time!